Did you just get a new Windows 10 computer for Christmas? Here’s everything you need to know to configure your machine, choose your software, and get started on the right foot.
Opening your Christmas presents to discover a new computer always has a little magical side. Beyond the excitement, unpacking the box and starting up a brand new PC is always a very pleasant moment: we savor the smell of new, we take pleasure in removing the various protective films, we is thrilled at the idea of ​​turning on and setting up the machine for the first time.
But a freshly started PC takes a little patience. Before you can fully use it and take full advantage of all of these capabilities, there are some mandatory steps you will need to go through most of the time. Here’s everything you need to do to get started on the right foot.
1. Install system updates
The first thing you usually do when you receive a new machine is to connect it to the Internet by entering the Wi-Fi password for your box.
But before going surfing the web, it is better to make the necessary updates. Indeed, between the moment Windows was installed on your machine when it left the factory, and the moment you opened your package, there is a good chance that Windows has benefited from updates.
So start by checking the availability of system updates for your computer.
To do this, click on the Start menu, go to Settings by clicking on the cogwheel icon, and access the Updates and security menu.
In the Windows update panel, click Check for updates. If your PC is up to date, go to the next step.
On the other hand, if your machine starts to download updates and security patches, be patient and let Windows install them. Your PC may restart, sometimes several times.
Repeat the process as many times as necessary, until Windows tells you that your machine is up to date in the Windows Update panel.
2. Download the software you will need
Very often, and especially when you already have established habits, starting a new computer is almost immediately followed by downloading the applications essential for everyday tasks.
While Windows comes with a number of default software packages, you’ll definitely want to download your favorite web browser, antivirus, or even image editing software first.
You will undoubtedly find what you are looking for in the selection of the best free and essential software for Windows, concocted by the editorial staff.
3. Remove unnecessary preinstalled software
If Windows 10 is a good operating system, we can blame it for the presence of many preinstalled software, not always useful.
This is even more true when you buy a machine from a manufacturer where most of the time, many programs in trial version (antivirus, image editing, video editing) are installed to allow you to test, but above all Encourage you to checkout to acquire a license after the trial period ends.
Before you take your marks on your machine, it might be best to first remove the software that came preinstalled on Windows 10.
The handling is quite simple, but still requires that you roll up your sleeves, because you will have to get your hands dirty.
You can complete this manipulation by modifying some values ​​in the system registry, in order to prevent the automatic installation of the suggested applications in Windows 10.
4. Configure the default applications
Properly configuring the applications that the operating system should use by default will take away a lot of hassle, especially if you have installed multiple web browsers.
To do this, click on the Start menu, go to Settings, and go to the Applications menu.
In the side column, enter the Default Applications menu, and for each of the items offered, click on the application used by default to select the software that suits you best.
5. Configure your default directories
If you already have an external hard drive containing all your perfectly organized data and want to continue using it as is, or if you want to deport your data storage to another volume or partition, consider configuring the different Default backup directories in Windows.
Click on the Start menu, go to Settings, then the System menu.
Then go to the Storage menu in the left column, scroll through the options, and click Change where new content is saved.
For each item, click the drop-down menu and select the default save location to use.
6. Configure power preferences
If you received a new laptop, the battery life should be comfortable. But over time, and the increase in the number of charge cycles which reduces battery performance, it is better to correctly configure the power preferences of your machine.
You will thus perpetuate the autonomy of your computer, preserve the battery and optimize the performance of the PC as well as possible according to its mode of supply, on battery or on sector.
7. Install a password manager
There is a beginning for everything. Getting started with a new PC is arguably the best opportunity to give up your bad habit of scribbling your different usernames and passwords on papers lying around your desk. This method is, in fact, neither secure nor practical. Entrusting all your passwords to the password manager built into your web browser is a solution, but not necessarily the best.
The best solution to secure your passwords on all your devices is through a dedicated password manager, which you can use on your PC, as well as from a web browser or smartphone.
8. Change the default DNS
When you establish a connection to the Internet, your service provider automatically configures the DNS servers that you will use to reach the websites you want to visit.
For a better respect of your private life, it is preferable (but not obligatory), to activate another DNS server.
That of CloudFlare, for example, will allow you to significantly improve the speed of connection to sites, provided you modify certain parameters in your browser or in the parameters of your Box.
9. Learn the keyboard shortcuts
If they are not essential, keyboard shortcuts allow you, when you know them, to use your PC more quickly by limiting the number of actions, especially on repetitive tasks.
Depending on your needs, learn and use the essential keyboard shortcuts for Windows 10. You will save precious minutes daily.
10. Activate the Windows 10 sandbox for suspicious files
Opening a file, a zipped archive or even an executable file that you don’t know the provenance of, or that you don’t know, is the best way to pollute your machine and infect it with unsavory elements.
If you are lucky enough to have a machine running Windows 10 in Professional (or Enterprise) version, know that the operating system has a hidden application, disabled by default, which allows you to open safely, any file, without affecting your system.
This application is the Windows sandbox, also called Sandbox. Once activated, it allows you to open a “mini-Windows” in a window isolated from the rest of the operating system, and to open all the files you want there, without any risk.
Once this sandbox is closed, all items that have been opened or installed in it are automatically deleted, preventing any damage to your clean and recent system.